The present invention relates to attachments and assemblies used to clean out existing, in-place culverts used for water drainage below such things as roadways. Culverts often contain dirt, garbage, leaves, and the like that impede the culvert's primary function of draining water. This invention allows the user to leverage the power of earth moving machinery to remove obstructions from culverts.
Culverts, pipes, ditches, and other drainage structures are in wide use for such reasons as preventing soil erosion and controlling runoff. Culverts may be installed across or under roadways to prevent flooding of the roadway or to prevent water damage to the surrounding area. In other locations, culverts may be used to prevent alteration of the landscape by erosion, or shifting of the soil, for example. In some areas, controlling runoff from snowmelt is another issue that may be addressed, in part, by the use of culverts.
A culvert may lose its function if clogged with debris. Culverts become obstructed by soil, rocks, sand, intrusion of plant roots, snow, ice, or other debris. The location of some culverts makes them particularly susceptible to blockage. One way to address these problems is to place a covering or grating over the openings of the culvert. However, these coverings may require extensive and frequent cleaning and may allow smaller objects such as sand, silt, and gravel to enter the culvert. Additionally, coverings and gratings may not prevent plant roots from clogging the culvert. Culverts can be removed and replaced periodically but replacement may involve disturbing existing roadways and other structures which increases costs.
In the past, cleaning culverts often required a person entering the culvert and using hand tools, such as long shovels, hoes, and rakes, or using pressurized water from a hose to remove obstructions like dirt, leaves, and trash. These methods are limited by the strength of the person or the power of the water in the hose. Furthermore, the ability to reach obstructions in long culverts depended on whether the culvert was large enough in diameter for a person to enter it and reach the obstruction with hand tools. The use of water pressure is also limited by the access to a water source and capability of creating enough pressure to remove obstructions in long culverts.
The use of a culvert cleaning apparatus in conjunction with a motorized device is known in the art. U.S. Publication No. 2013/0020264 to Reiss, Jr. discusses a trash rake system for use in clearing debris from an intake screen of a water use facility. The intake screen is configured to collect debris transported by water, for example, a river, and prevent the debris from entering the intake port of the water use facility. The trash rake system includes a track system, a movable support structure, a rack and pinion drive mechanism, and a controller configured to receive signals from an encoder on a drive motor and a proximity sensor system.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,398,785 and 7,725,978 to Harr discuss tools for cleaning culverts. The tools comprise a rod having a center longitudinal axis. Various housings are coupled coaxially to one end of the rod. One such housing contains rotating cutting instruments. Another housing functions as a scoop. All of the tools are designed for insertion into a culvert to cut, push, or pull debris from the culvert. All of the tools are utilized as attachments to a motorized device such as a tractor.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,152 to Tate discusses a culvert cleaning apparatus for use with earth moving machinery having a bucket, such as a backhoe or trackhoe. The apparatus has an attachment assembly for connection to the machinery's bucket. An arm extends from the attachment assembly. A scoop is attached to the end of the arm opposite the attachment assembly. Extensions between the attachment assembly and the scoop are provided when extended reach is desired. The machine may be used to push the scoop into a culvert and scoop out material clogging the culvert.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned devices possess several deficiencies. One particular defect of the devices discussed in the references is that they are all fixed in size and width. The devices are not dynamic in nature. For example, the referenced tools cannot reduce their cross-section to push through a tight area nor can they expand to capture debris when the tool is removed from the culvert.
In contrast, the functional diameter of the claimed invention can change during use. As the tool of the present invention enters a culvert it possesses a first functional diameter. As it engages debris and is removed from the culvert it can possess a second functional diameter. In this regard, the present invention is an improvement over known designs. In this respect, the culvert cleaning tool according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.